Several of our neighbours in this part of Ipswich have left the Christmas lights outside their homes, not only attached to the building, but switched on during the evenings.  Under normal circumstances I would have been moaning about this practice as it is tradition to remove all Christmas decorations by twelfth night, (three day ago…

I watch a TV programme on Christmas Eve where they started by playing the final part of the same programme a year ago.  Cast your mind back to the end of 2019 and you will remember a general election during Advent which returned a Conservative majority government who promised to “get Brexit done!” and the…

During the Autumn of 1996 we decided in the Grimshaw houshold that we would work hard to make this Christmas a Christmas to remember, our girls were still young and I had all but worked right through the previous two Christmases, so we put some real effort into Advent ninety six, I even took time…

We got my grandson a toy garage for Christmas last year and I must confess that his dad and I got hours of enjoyment on Christmas day, taking all the components out of the box and linking them all together, it wasn’t a very practical present, because once built up it wouldn’t fit in their…

About thirty years ago, when our girls were very little, the Church in Bradford that we used to attend held a Christingle service at 4pm on Christmas Eve.  Over the years, the Christingle service became a part of our Christmas tradition and we would attend every year, then spend the rest of Christmas Eve with…

I mentioned a few weeks ago my love for the James Herriott books and over the years I have enjoyed reading the books and watching the films and two television series based on his stories.  Alf Wight, the author is reputed to have been a very entertaining story teller, recounting his early experiences as a…

Advent this year is completely different to any Advent I have ever known in the past, the statement I keep hearing all the time at the moment relates to “the true meaning of Christmas” and I hear a variety of views on what Christmas is all about “It is about families being together!” some people…

One of the delights of the last few weeks has been Friday evenings on the One Show on BBC1 when the show goes to a street in Leeds where the residents bring their garden chairs out onto the pavement and they chat about topical issues, I love it and it is well worth five minutes…

This picture appeared on Facebook earlier this week and appeared to attract quite a bit of attention, my first reaction was one of amazement that in the knarled roots of an old tree, new life is sprouting forth and at face value, the picture is quite amazing and a wonder to behold.  Next week we…

The BBC marked the Children in Need Appeal 2020 on Friday 13th November and I hope that once again we will see a record amount of money being raised for this wonderful cause.  Normally I would watch the One Show’s Rickshaw Challenge every day during the week and I normally find the experience both moving…